Intuitive mind / rational mind - Servant and master

Here I am sharing an interesting point / fundamental distinction /powerful directions shared by our friend Joo Hock - as part of his Bucky's group activities: see below.

 I may not need to add anything except - as I am thinking about it - that the mind is a powerful tool - a tool "out of this world", a gift to humanity in a way, something that sets us apart - not so much because we are so great but because it gives us a special power: power of choice, power of discernment, power of intelligible perception, power of intelligence somehow. 

I like to think that intelligence comes in various form. Harvard Howard Gardner talks of multiple intelligence. There is one intelligence that has always been very dear to me and it is what I call Heart intelligence - it is a connective, integrative, inclusive form of intelligence and it is governed by the heart. Whereas rational, analytical, brain-based intelligence is more divisive, specialization-focused. I guess I will continue to explore this field.... Kindly contribute if you feel like....Cheerios to All :-)
from Joo Hock email (11/11/2011): Dear Friends and Fellow Buckians,
Last Sat. we listen to a talk by Iain McGilchrist on the Divided Brain. Interesting. Because I use to think that Right Brainers are Creative people, Artistic types, and that the Left Brainers are Logical, the Science types.
McGilchrist pointed that while the Left brain focusses, the Right Brain keeps a lookout at the Big Picture. So though one may be Right dominant or Left dominant, actually the two hemispheres of Brain they work together.
At the end of his Talk, McGilchrist pointed out that Einstein shared that the Intuitve Mind is a Sacred Gift, the Rational Mind is a Faithful Servant. Hmmm... Interesting Perspectives.

Being childlike - a life of promise and efforts - Learning with Joy

30 April 2009 and 10 May 2009

An important part of myself has been, ... an important part of my life has been to keep in touch with some precious childhood memories.

These are not really the usual childhood memories, like Christmas, parties, holidays or even people. These are more like impressions - lasting impressions. My problem has been to be able to express them. Even understanding, or 'locating'  them has proven difficult. In fact precisely because of this difficulty to understand or to locate them, the ability to express them and share them has been greatly impaired... like limited.

Today, I think that a conscious decision, an important, deep decision that somehow I - or something in me - took, was to remain faithful to these impressions and somehow bring them to life.

***********

A lot of my professional, entrepreneurial life has been determined - like led - by that desire and that 'implicit' decision. In fact - it seems - my professional life became about that:

              bringing to life and getting in touch with strong, lasting child / child-like feelings    

Only recently - I would say these days, do I start to learn more and approach these feelings closer again.

What are they? Whom are there? The taste of the mango lies in tasting it - words are at loss. Only today is society more willing to invest and investigate into these... Early childhood development, children feelings and intelligences are being studied with a more open mind.

In this 'conflict' or 'tension' between the growing human being and the child, it is often the growing human - more specifically the adult - already grown up - that will look at and judge the child, it is often the growing human - more specifically the adult - already grown up, that will look at and judge the child.

Shall the adults' views prevail over any other? In fact are there been even any others? Rare are the instances in our modern world. The Little Prince stands out in his confinement and solitude. Far away in history are the stories or the representation of child-king, in ancient Egypt or during the Khmer kingdom.

In a world designed for the adults to WIN, shall we be surprised that little be made to uncover what is it that the child has and the adult not?

I am not saying that children should win nor that education is a fallacy and responsibility a mirage. I am giving my best at becoming an educated, responsible adult. But where so many of us, so often fail, isn't it worth to turn back and look at the whole equation differently?

1- What can we learn from children? Is there anything that adult can learn from children?
2- When it seems that from birth the fragile infant 's life is suspended into the adults' hands - primarily the mother and father - is that that children can only take and adults give?
3-Besides love and gratitude is there anything that we adult can receive and our children give?
4- If one has to admit that yes adults will have to win, does that mean a contrario that children must lose? Above the all too common scheme of domination, dependence, sometimes contend and humiliation or their reverse - adoration and glorification - is there another path of win-win openness, education and inclusion?

In view of the multiple talents deployed by our children, the world of adults is put into question...

a/ Yes - no 5 years old created the atomic bomb or the space shuttle or the compass or the chopsticks... Nonetheless if a comparison is possible by any standards the field of possibility for each man seem to shrink with years for most.

The smart student becomes a great professor, the dynamic teenager becomes a successful businessman, the playful boy a talented architect etc... a great violinist, scientist, sportsman...at most. And for most of us, an employee, a staff, a clerk, a worker, a farmer, ...There is absolutely no shame in this status, positions, occupations... And for sure they can be the subject of much pride and accomplishment.

Just that the spectrum of resources being used, the intensity of efforts and the depth of progress being made seem to pale when you compare how much is between achieved between 0 to 6 and 7 to 77. Isn't it? Maybe it could become the subject for new researches for people who have the time and money...

b/ Another reason why we question the world of adults and its traditionally accepted dominance over the world of children is the blatant failure - and irresponsibility - the lies, the perversity that seem to pervade every level and every aspects of the adult's society

Since my daughter was born, besides becoming - maybe - a subject of pride for a loving father - she also become a subject of wonder, such wonder as I encounter with any infant: I cannot help but wondering at the great efforts - inhuman for us adults it seems - over-human efforts my daughetr is making to ajust herself to her new environment and world: conquering, managing space, time, langage, food, objects.... She goes through all those previously unknown dimensions at high speed, overcoming all obstacles one after the other.


Besides signals of pain and absolute needs, she is only smile and laugh. There is an immense sense of enterprise. What drives her?

Multiple Intelligences in the context of education

Below are some extracts that I hand picked from a book by Howard Gardner entitles Multiple Intelligence

Assessment and Beyond: Beyond Assessment: The Aims and Means of Education

“I have sought to provide some degree of focus by insisting on four elements:

(1)   the goal of an education that is geared to understanding;

(2)   a stress on the cultivation of performances of understanding, which can be assessed primarily in context;

(3)   a recognition of the existence of different individual strengths; and

(4)   a commitment to mobilize these productively in the education of each child.

To orchestrate these different elements into a seamless educational regimen is no mean task; but there are promising signs abroad that progress can be made, and that we can secure and education that celebrate our common heritage as human beings, the particular cultural backgrounds from which we come, and the ways in which each of us stands out as an individual”

(Page 207)

“Imagine an educational environment in which youngsters at the age of 7 or 8, in addition to – or perhaps instead of – attending a formal school, have the opportunity to enroll in a children’s museum, a science museum, or some kind of discovery center or exploratorium. As part of this educational scene, adults are present who actually practice the disciplines or crafts represented by the various exhibitions…”

(p 198)

“On the one hand, youngsters live in a time of unparalleled excitement, where even the less privileged are exposed daily to attractive media and technologies….

On the other hand, science museums and children’s museums have become the loci for exhibitions, activities, and role models drawn precisely from those domains that do engage youngsters….

If we are to configure an education for understanding, suited for the students of today and for the world of tomorrow, we need to take the lessons of museum and the relationship of the apprenticeship extremely seriously.”P 200

 What kind of knowledge is required in schools

“It is in rich, situation-specific contexts that intelligences are typically and productively deployed.”

“The kind of knowledge  required in workplaces and in one’s personal life usually involves collaborative, contextualized, and situation-specific thinking (Gardner, 1990; Resnick, 1987; Rogoff and Lave, 1984)”

“Schools do provide some group activities, but students are usually judged on their individual work. By contrast, in many social and occupational settings, one’s ability to communicate effectively and work productively with others is critical to a successful outcome.”

“A comprehensive effort to enhance a student’s “school intelligences” must address at least several factors:

-         Conditions particular to the environment

-         Students particular skills

-         Measurement tools to measure achievements”

“Our underlying premise was that students who thrive in school need to learn, apply and integrate both academic knowledge about subject domains and practical knowledge about themselves, academic tasks and the school system at large.”

The infusion curriculum

 “An infusion approach” rather than teaching students how to be practically intelligent in school through a separate “stand alone” set of lessons, we infuse these themes throughout the course of students’ daily work in the major subject matter areas or disciplines.”

The Practical Intelligence for School (PIFS) Projects

1-     Choosing a project

a.      “Understanding projects”

b.      “Choosing a Project Appropriate to You”

c.      “Planning a Project Appropriate to the Audience and Resources”

2-     Principles

a.      Practical intelligence skills are most fruitfully nurtured in domain-specific contexts

b.      Taught concepts are most effectively implemented when used in service of a particular purpose

c.      Students acquire knowledge best when it is related to their own sets of abilities and interests.

d.      Practical intelligence skills are most powerfully integrated when presented in both scholastic and real-world contexts

e.      Self-monitoring helps students to take responsibility for their own learning.

Evaluation of PIFS Units

1-     Do students understand the issues addressed in the project and why they are important (Definitional component)

2-     Task completion assessment as students are asked to either start or complete a task, or perhaps to work through a problem area (Task component)

3-     Reflecting on the nature of the process or skills involved in the particular tasks. Students are asked to evaluate whether their performances were successful, and if not, how they could be revised or improved (metatask component) Approaching School Intelligently: Practical Intelligence at the Middle School Level: A New Conception of Intelligence (p121)

Assessment and Beyond:

“Rather than being imposed “externally” at odd times during the year, assessment ought to become part of the natural learning environment.”

“As much as possible it should occur “on the fly”, as part of an individual’s natural engagement in a learning situation. Initially, the assessment would probably have to be introduced explicitly; but after a while, much assessment would occur naturally on the part of student and teacher with little need for explicit recognition or labeling on anyone’s part. Assessment and Beyond: Assessment in context: the Alternative to Standardized Testing: General feature of a new approach to assessment

How to Achieve and Demonstrate Understanding

“Upon closer examination, it is clear that understandings can only be apprehended and appreciated if they are performed by a student”

“Students need to begin to “practice” these performances from the first days of class. And by the same token, students ought to become partners in the process of assessmsnet as soon as possible.”

 “An individual is most likely to achive a satisfactory life – to make a contribution to society and gain self-esteem – if he or she finds vocational and avocational niches that complement his or her own aptitudes.” Beyond Assessment: The Aims and Means of Education